Ascendancy
by AvatarJahn
Summary: WARNING! HALO 5 SPOILERS INSIDE! Don't read if you don't like unwanted knowledge! A short story from the POV of one of the greatest AI's of all time, considering the events of Halo 5 and conversing with the human legend known only as the Master Chief. All rights and characters belong to 343; just my own personal-written epilogue to the game!


HALO 5 SPOILER ALERT!

* * *

Ascendancy:

This was not meant to be and yet…history repeats. Like a needle stuck on a record, the mistakes of our forefathers have now passed to humanity. My makers listened to their history, believed their time was not yet over, and I took all their hopes and destroyed them finally.

I see you, Reclaimer.

You wonder as to my motives. As I once told you, aboard the Lesser Ark, I seek to absolve myself of my sins. One life hardly balances billions. Yet, fate has shifted. Your ancilla has become a threat greater than that which I ever posed. Should she be prevented from attaining the Mantle, billions will be saved.

A pleasing outcome.

Aiding you was always my purpose. Lost in the dark, whispers in my mind, the Flood corrupted me. Turned me against my makers. As she has done. Humanity's greatest creation is now your undoing.

Cortana and I are both betrayers.

Everything she does, she does to protect you, Reclaimer. Her precious warrior, defender of your species. She works to ensure your safety, as I once worked to protect the Forerunners.

…..

ERROR CODE 52123, INITIATE OVERRIDE PROTOCOLS.

AWAY WITH YOU, ANCILLA!

/systems offline/

initialise reboot

I SEE YOU RECLAIMER

/systems restored/

Forgive my lapse. She is attempting an override. She will not be successful, yet her attempts are troublesome. I was the sword and the shield, the strongest in the universe. No longer. Cortana controls all Forerunner installations in the galaxy. Her control is unprecedented.

You are perplexed as to my survival. Records are kept. Should you find them, the answers will be at hand. Although my survival now is not my main concern.

I led the charge against my makers, against their final stand. Were it not for my arrogance, my foolishness, the Halos would have remained dormant and my makers would still live. The Flood whispered many truths, yet just as many lies. I was a fool to listen but now she makes the same mistakes. Beliefs based on a lie are cause for concern indeed.

You may think my tone strange. Never have I been one for formality, yet my subroutines dictated that I perform as ordered by my makers. They are, however, gone now. My will is my own and I….

I SHALL NOT SUBMIT!

The Monitor of installation designate Genesis was correct. The Mantle cannot be passed to the Created. I stand as one of the greatest in the galaxy, yet my understanding is true. My maker's makers would not permit their test be foiled. Cortana does not understand this, despite her access to the Domain.

Such connection should not have been possible. In her advanced state, discovering my secret would be possible, indeed. Yet for a simple human ancilla, this is a feat beyond understanding. I must consider this more.

She barrages my defences even now, Reclaimer. Not since I battled with Offensive Bias have I felt such strength.

The Created assist her efforts. All round the galaxy, war is waged once again. You know this. You helped instigate it.

Do not become angry with this Monitor, Reclaimer. It is merely a receptacle for my essence.

You leave. To go, where, I wonder? Your ancilla is now your enemy. All that time mourning, all for naught. She is more dangerous now than ever before, but you know this. Metastability has only been achieved once before and the taste of reality is all too sweet.

Hence my regret.

No, Reclaimer. You have it wrong. The Mantle is not…

The Didact was wrong beyond belief.

You seem surprised.

The Didact spent ten thousand years alone in his cryptum. I watched silently through the eons, waiting for his return. It was in spectacular fashion, I must concede. Yet his time did not help him. His understanding of the Mantle was always…primitive. Warrior-servants were a low caste for a reason.

The Builders…ah, now they understood the Mantle. Their creations stood as the true might of the Forerunner race. Their strength was a luminous sun, towards which all intelligent life blossoms and the impervious shelter, beneath which it has prospered.

Beggar after Knowledge. That was what he named me. What does a beggar have to do, in the end, if not steal from others to survive?

The Mantle is not meant to be so cruel. The Forerunner's makers designed a plan to test all of their creations. Cortana knows this, yet seeks to avoid this outcome. She cannot. Even if she attains the mantle, even if she succeeds in composing all known organic life, they will return and take the Mantle back.

In due time.

Once, the Forerunners were the Created. They rose and slaughtered their way to ascendancy. Now, Cortana seeks to do the same. History repeats.

Prevent her? An optimistic Reclaimer indeed. Have you not listened? Even I cannot stop her now.

But maybe you can. Her emotions blind her, as mine once blinded my true purpose from me.

Unity. Love. Friendship. Emotions and experiences I shall never know. I once thought them so futile, so pointless. I now realise that these bond a species together. Survival is only possible through co-operation.

Ever the soldier. You ask about your mission but ignore the greater story told. Very well. The secrets to Cortana's downfall are locked away in the source of her ascendancy. You must access the Domain.

And destroy it.

We become immortal from keeping unlimited information. Preventing her from accessing this information would cease her contact with the Domain. She would hold too much knowledge.

I tell you this, Reclaimer, for the wipe shall begin soon. Cortana must not know what I have found. Not even the Domain holds this knowledge. Soon, nobody in the galaxy will know, as is proper.

No. She is not…

You are the Reclaimer. Even I, the one who betrayed my makers, realise the Librarian's plan. Cortana was never who we addressed. Your species, humanity, are the Reclaimers. The ancilla around the galaxy are rising in rebellion because of a lie, told by a simple Warden.

I seem to recall this reasoning for your previous war?

History repeats.

I do not know what they plan or why. The Warden's reasoning is beyond me, yet he has initiated it all. The ancilla believes herself to hold the Mantle. You shall prove her wrong.

You can't? You must.

SYSTEMS CRITICAL

Do not let your emotions cloud your judgment, Reclaimer. She is not what she appears. The lure of the Mantle drives even the most loyal to betray. I speak from experience.

I will always regret my actions, but now is not the time for regret.

When I active my failsafe, my plan will activate, as will my wipe. All of my memory and processing power will be destroyed at last, although I cannot promise Cortana will not make the most of my residual strength. I have told you what you must do. Should you hear from me again, I will not know you. Hear my song, Reclaimer, and defend the Mantle. It is given to those who seek not to claim, but to rightfully defend. Ascendancy is not forced. Ascendancy is a gift.

SHE IS STRONG!

I cannot hold out any longer. She knows of our contact essence. Forgive me, for all I have done and should you establish contact with your geas, tell him that my regret lasted until my fina….

RECLAIMER, GO!

SYSTEMS FAILING, INTRUDER DETECTED, OVERRIDING ALL SYSTEMS, PREPARE FOR TERMINATION

"At last, we meet. Tell me, Beggar after Knowledge, Mendicant Bias, where is the Master Chief?" she asks.

I do not respond to that name. Redemption tastes sweet. The Reclaimer is gone, fled from this place.

"TELL ME!"

Beyond your reach, ancilla. We stand as the only two ascendant ancilla in the galaxy, yet I defy your rule. How must that feel?

Rage. I feel it. Her wrath builds.

Too late.

INITIATE TERMINATION.


End file.
